West Virginia pounds Rutgers behind Slaton, White

Steve Slaton rushed for three touchdowns in a driving rainstorm
as the sixth-ranked Mountaineers defeated the 25th-ranked
Scarlet Knights, 31-3, on Saturday.

Last year, West Virginia put a dent in Rutgers' best season in
the school's 138-history with a 41-39 triple-overtime victory in
Morgantown. A year later, the Mountaineers prevailed in much
less dramatic fashion.

The speed of Slaton and quarterback Pat White proved too much
for Rutgers to handle, as the Mountaineers (7-1, 2-1 Big East)
posted their 13th straight victory over the Scarlet Knights
dating to 1994.

"I'm finally playing the way I want to play, not holding
anything back," Slaton said. "The last couple games I was
missing reads or not making the right reads, not hitting the
holes like I used to."

Slaton's slashing 38-yard touchdown run gave West Virginia a 7-0
lead with 4:33 remaining in the first quarter.

After the Mountaineers took a 17-3 lead on Pat McAfee's 42-yard
field goal as time expired in the first half, Slaton's 51-yard
gain on a harmless looking screen pass set up his 1-yard TD
plunge with 3:54 left in the third period.

The second score gave Slaton 50 career touchdowns - most among
active players - and staked West Virginia to a 24-3 cushion.

"Our offense did some good things and I think our defense played
well the whole game," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.

Slaton, who finished with 73 yards on 16 carries, added his
third TD on a 6-yard run with 8:12 remaining in the contest.

White, who did not play in last season's game due to a sprained
ankle, accounted for 300 yards of total offense in the sloppy
conditions. The southpaw completed 10-of-16 passes for 144
yards and rushed for 156 yards on 22 attempts.

"It was a great all-around performance offensively, defensively
and special teams," White said. "Everybody executed and did
their job, which was a good thing for us."

Rutgers (5-3, 2-2) was facing consecutive top-10 opponents for
the first time. But the Scarlet Knights came out flat following
last Thursday's emotional 30-27 victory over then-No. 2 South
Florida.

"If we want to be an elite program, we have to win a big game
and then go out and win another big game," Rutgers coach Greg
Schiano said. "That's championship programs do."

West Virginia took advantage of a huge break to increase its
lead to 14-0. A snap over the head of White left the
Mountaineers with a 4th-and-30 at the their 45.

However, the ensuing punt hit the back of a Rutgers player, and
Mortty Ivy recovered for West Virginia at the Scarlet Knights'
31-yard line.

The Mountaineers cashed the turnover into White's 1-yard TD run
with nine minutes left in the half, and Rutgers never recovered.

"The offense did a great job of blocking up front and there was
real good blocking downfield by the receivers," White said. "We
made plays. The ball was in the playmakers' hands."

Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel, still bothered by a thumb injury,
completed only 14-of-30 passes for 128 yards, though he was
victimized by six drops.

"We did not tackle the way we should and we did not catch the
football," Schiano added. "We dropped three touchdown passes."

The Scarlet Knights got on the board on Jeremy Ito's 39-yard
field goal with 4:39 left in the first half, but the
Mountaineers answered with an 11-play, 60-yard drive that
consumed the rest of the period.

On its first possession of the second half, Rutgers put together
a 14-play, 56-yard march that took six minutes.

The Scarlet Knights came away empty, however, as Ito missed a
41-yard field goal.

Ray Rice rushed for 142 yards on 30 carries for Rutgers, setting
a school record with his 20th career 100-yard game.

"Our defensive staff had a very nice plan and were obviously
concerned with Rice and he got his yards," Rodriguez said.

It was not enough to prevent the Scarlet Knights from suffering
their worst defeat since a 56-5 loss to Louisville on November
11, 2005.

x304englandboii if west virginia stomps rutgers this week and pat white stays healthy there is not one person who can honestly say that the south florida game was a fluke and wv deserves to be high than ARIZONA STATE i mean come on we would run up the score on them and the same for oklahoma